Govt eyes wage raises for workers in 10 pilot tourism provinces as Songkran present

Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Monday that the committee chaired by Labour permanent secretary Pairoj Chotikasatien will meet on Tuesday to consider the new rates proposed by a subcommittee.

The subcommittee resolved on Friday to propose wage increases in 10 provinces, whose main revenue comes from tourism. The provinces are Bangkok, Phuket, Chonburi, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Krabi, Songkhla, Phang Nga, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Rayong.

Phiphat said the new rates are based on surveys conducted on more than 950 hotels and resorts in the 10 provinces.

“If the wage committee approves the proposed rates, the panel will draft an announcement to be sent to the Cabinet on April 2 or 9,” Phiphat said. “Once the Cabinet acknowledges the new rates, they will be published in the Royal Gazette and take effect on April 13 as a Songkran gift for workers.”

Phiphat added that the new rates were based on the wage committee’s February 27 decision to consider a new daily minimum wage based on specific areas and the types of businesses most prevalent there.

Initially, the wage committee resolved to have its subpanel study the business conditions and living costs in areas popular with tourists in the 10 pilot provinces.

Under this principle, the rate will vary in different parts of the same province, he said. For instance, Phiphat said, the daily wage rate in the outskirts of Bangkok will be different from downtown, as the cost of living is vastly different.

He also said that the new way of calculating the new wages would be fair to both employers and employees. He added that the subcommittee has surveyed and talked to business operators in the 10 provinces before devising the new rates.

“The first group of workers to get raises under this new principle are workers in the tourism industry. They are crucial to the economy and these 10 pilot provinces are key tourist destinations,” the minister said.